The Survivor Book Review

The Survivor, Vince Flynn’s much anticipated final book, which was left unfinished due to his untimely death, has been finished by veteran writer, Kyle Mills. CIA operative, Joe Rickman, a borderline genius, and unfortunately a traitor, is releasing classified secrets to other countries. National Security is threatened, and CIA Director, Irene Kennedy sends Mitch Rapp to repair the tremendous damage that is already done, and to prevent more. Mitch has already killed Joe, but Joe had been planning carefully, and more secrets are being released even after his death. Irene’s job is on the line, and getting to the bottom of the mess and stopping the flow of information is the only way to save it. Rapp, who through eleven previous novels, has emerged as a classic hero who is able to do the impossible, is working on the case with what seems to be impossible obstacles. He’s aging, Stan Hurley has cancer, and Rapp is thinking a lot about the past – Anna, his wife, and his unborn baby who were murdered, as well as the murderer who has no remorse except that he failed to kill Rapp.

The entire book is suspenseful, but the suspense isn’t the same as in the past novels. While Mills is an excellent and seasoned writer, his style differs from Flynn’s. All of the important characters are here, but something is missing – there is more willy-nilly killing in this novel, and it is difficult to find reasons for the carnage. The book is not as well organized as Flynn’s previous novels and there are chapters that lag and won’t keep the readers’ interest.

The bottom line: The names of the characters are the same, but Mills’ characters aren’t Flynn’s characters. Mitch Rapp is not the same Mitch Rapp. Irene Kennedy is not the same Irene Kennedy. Stan Hurley is not the same Stan Hurley. In fact, The Survivor is definitely not a true Vince Flynn Novel. You might say it is “Faux Flynn.”

Mitch Rapp fans will, of course, want to read this novel, but they will, most likely, be disappointed. Unfortunately, the Mitch Rapp legacy is over and will be no more.

This book was purchased with personal funds and no promotion of the book was solicited by the author or publisher.